Quality
“It is not important that we have striven for perfection, and failed. What is important is that we aprehend the margin of our failure.” — Herbert Bloom
The word "Quality" has been much over used lately. There is only the occasional advertisement that doesn't promise it. In fact it has been promised so much, in so many ways, and for so many things that it has barely a shred of meaning to its name. The word originally meant the character or nature of a thing such as distinguishes it from other things. "Give her what comforts the quality of her passion shall require," said Shakespere. He was implying nothing about the goodness or quantity of her passion, nor was he recommending that her comfort should wait on a value judgment.
The origin of our current meaning of quality come from the products we buy. There are many qualities that flour may manifest. Some of these we judge to be good, while others are judged bad. By inference, flour of good quality shall have a preponderance of the good qualities and fewer of the bad ones. In the same way, a person of good quality shall manifest more positive attributes than negative ones.
What then is (good) quality work? The work is a product, the result of labor of mind and hand, of resource and creativity. Those qualities that confer the mantle of "quality" on a work are:
- The timeliness of the product.
- The clarity of the product.
- The completeness of the product.
- The product's conformance to the client's prejudices.
- The client's estimate of the effectiveness of the product.
- The opinions of "experts" the client shows the product to.
The first three items in this list are matters of good writing. These require skill, attention to detail, access to information, and a commitment to professional standards. All the good ethics in the world will not make you a good and skillful writer. Talent, application, practice, and a willingness to make mistakes and to learn from them probably will result in a professionally competent technical writer, eventually.
The last three items in this list have nothing, strictly speaking, to do with writing, but they do have a definite effect of how your writing is perceived. The biggest influence on these factors you can have is by listening effectively to your client, to your client's staff and to your client's audience. You have to keep note of factors that will skew the client's opinion and make a conscious effort to address those factors. Be especially tuned to objections your client may voice. Be eager and ready to accept (and profit from) criticism at any time. Above all, you and you client should agree 110% about the audience for your technical writing.
What you think of the quality of your writing does not matter 2 cents. If one spelling mistake convinces the client that your skills are feeble, then it does not matter if no one has every achieved such concise clarity concerning this subject matter. You have to maintain your position of professional expertise and authority. You and your client must agree that you are the expert.